Bedclothes holder



Sept. 29, 1953 c. Um/SAY, JR 2,653,363

BEDCLOTHES HOLDERl Filed May l5, 1950 Patented Sept. 29, 1953 UNITEDsrArss @TENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a bedclothes holder and has for an object toprovide a means for holding the blankets, sheets or other bedclothesfrom either pulling away from the end of the bed or from creeping orfalling off the end of the bed, particularly in the Hollywood style ofbed wherein there is no footboard located at the end of the mattress.

A further object of this invention is to provide a bedclothes holderwhich in its preferred form when used on a Hollywood style bed may beplaced in an upstanding operative position when in use for holding thebedclothes during the night and may be turned downwardly so as to be outof the way during the day time when the edge of the bed may be sat onand used as a couch.

A further obj ect of this invention is to provide a footboard bedclothes holding means which although particularly used in the Hollywoodstyle bed is equally used in ordinary beds particularly where there isnormally a substantial space between the ordinary footboard and the endof the mattress.

A further object of this invention is to provide a bedclothes holdingfootboard which may be made in several forms but which in each formserves to hold the bedclothes tucked or clamped against the end of themattress.

With the foregoing and other objects in view as will hereinafter becomeapparent this invention provides the construction, combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter set forth, claimed and disclosed in theaccompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a footboardless or Hollywood style ofbed te which this invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred form of this invention. y YY Fig. 3 is a side edge view of the preferred form of this invention.

Fig. 4 is a side edge View of a modiiied form of this invention, and fFig. 5 is a similar side edge view of still another modiied form of thisinvention.

For better understanding of the preferred form of this invention thereis shown at ill a Hollywood bed or a bed lacking in the usual footboardThe lbed lli when made up for use at night is provided with the usualblankets, sheets, or other bedclothes il which may be covered in the davtime with the usual bedspread I2.

Usually the ends of the bedclothes i i hang over the foot end of themattress and, if of suiiicient length, a small ,portion may be insertedbetween the mattress and the spring. However, this small portion of thebedclothes under the mattress is usually not suiiicient to hold thebedclothes from creeping upwardly and exposing the feet of the sleeperor vice versa to keep the weight of the depending edge of the bedclothesfrom dragging the bedclothes down to the floor depending on the habitsand movements of the sleeper. This invention in its several forms servesto clamp the depending edge of the bedclothes against the end of themattress supporting its weight while it does so, thus preventing thisend of the bedclothes from either creeping upwardly and exposing thefeet of the sleeper or vice versa from acting as a weight to drag thebedclothes olf the upper body part of the sleeper.

in the preferred form for use on Hollywood beds the bedclothes holderconsists of a footboard I4 of a length and height equal to or preferablyvery slightly' less than the length and height of the mattress withwhich it is to be used. Hinged to the ends of the bottom edge l5 as atIS are a pair of extending leaves il, being preferably although notnecessarily rectangular in outline. Furthermore, if desired the twoleaves il could be secured together or could even be a common singlepiece but for economy of manufacture and lightness of handling it ispreferably in two leaves as shown.

The hinges I6 are of the type that the footboard ii) could pivot aboutthe hinges substantially almost 360 for ease in shipping and storage.For use on the bed the hinges need becapable only of substantiallyslightly more than movement in either direction above and below theplane of the leaves Il.

Secured to each leaf i1 at the outside edge thereof by any suitablefastening means i8 is a tension coil spring 20 whose other end isconveniently secured at i8 to a similar fastening means to the side edgeof the footboard le adjacent the top edge 22 thereof, the coil spring2i! being of such a length and tension that the footboard I4 may rotateabout its hinges I8 substantially almost 360 from the position flatagainst one surface of the leaves il to a position iiat aginst the othersurface of the leaves il.

ln operation with this preferred form of the footlooard of thisinvention, the leaves l1 are inserted under the foot ends of theopposite sides of the mattress with the hinge I6 located just at the endof the mattress, the springs 2t being spaced far enough from each otherso that the mattress and bedclothes will just t therebetween. When thebed is in the process of being made the footboard Hl will be located tothe down position whereupon the blanket and sheets may be used to makeup the bed in the conventional manner. During the daytime when theHollywood bed may also be used as a sofa this footboard I4 will be leftin the down position as it is not needed and is completely concealed bythe bedspread I2 placed over the bed.

At night the bedspread I2 is removed so that the bed may be used. Thefootboard I4 is then merely rotated upwardly and outwardly away from thebottom of the bed and then upwardly, inwardly against the ends of thebedclothes hanging over the end of the mattress'. The coil springsresist the rst half of this rotation but yield to permit it and thenassist the' second half of the movement and serve toy clamp thefootboard I4 against the end of the bedclothes and against the end ofthe mattress, thus firmlyV tucking said ends against movement in any difbecause of the fact that such bed is often used as a sofa during thedaytime and the sharp end of a footboard would be undesirable for anyonesitting on the end of the bed.

There is shown in Figure 4 another form' of this invention which, whileusable in a Hollywood style of bed, is also intended for usev in anordinary bed. In the form in Fig. 4 the footboard I4 is pivotallysecured to the leaves I1 by means of spring hinge I6" including' a coilspring 20' as a part of the hinge I6'. The coil spring 20 will causether board I4 to exert a clamping pressure against the end of the bedclothes hanging overY the end of the mattress in the same manner as iIithe preferred. form,A but due to the natureA of the coil spring 20" itwould not permit the footboard I 4 to hang in a downward position aswith the preferred form. Also, in this form, it is riot essential thatthere be two leaves I1' at opposite sides of the bed for it will beequally operative if' there isv only a single leaf I1 which mayV not berotated at the end of the bed but couldA extend somewhere inbetween.This form of the invention is preferably usable for the conventionalstyle of bed with the usual footboard but where the space between theend of the mattress and the usual footboard is too great t'o' exert aclamping or holding effect on the end of the bedclothes. Holes 29 areshown for increasing the friction between parts of the holder and themattress,` particularly when the holder is madeI of. smooth material,such as metal;

In Fig. 5 there is shown sti-ll anotherY form of the invention. In thisform the footboard is integrally secured to or integrally extends v fromone or more leaves 26 at substantially a right angle thereto or veryslightly less thany a right angle. The inner side of the footboard 25has a fabric 21 glued or otherwise fastened thereto. The fabric 21 has aroughened grip-1 ping surface thereon. In this form the leaf 26, whichmay be only `a single leaf, is placed over the end of the bedspring withthe footboard 25 extending upwardly, the end of the mattress is thenplaced in the angle between the leaf or leaves 26 and the footboard 25with the rough surface 28 of the fabric 21 in contact with the end ofthe mattress. The bed is then made up in the usual Way, the ends of thebedclothes being tucked in between the end of the mattress and thefabric surface, thus serving to hold the bedclothes in placeparticularly in a conventional style of bedwherein the footboard andmattress end are normally too far apart to provide a clamping surface.It will be understood of course, that the rough surface fabric 21 couldbe added to the clamping surface of either footboard I4 or I4 ifdesirable in order to increase the frictional contact between thefootboard andthe endV of the bedclothes but the coil spring or springhinges usually make such additional friction surface unnecessary.

While the preferred form of this invention has been shown and described,it will be understood that this invention is not restricted to theparticular details ofv construction and arrangementhereinbe'fore. setforth but that changes in such detail of construction may be made withinthe scope ofA what is hereinafter claimed.

Having thus.` set forth and disclosed the nature of this: invention,what is claimed is:

A bedclothes holder comprising a footboard for cooperation with thevertical foot end of a `mattress with which it is to be used, a leafmeans, hinge means securing said footboard to said leaf means, springmeans cooperating between said footboard and said leaf means yieldablyurging said footboard to rotate toward said leaf means to a positionsubstantially less than a right angle thereto, whereby, when said leafmeans is placed under the foot end of the mattress and heldY byy theYmattress against the mattress supporting surface with said footboardforming approximately a right angle therewith aga-inst the vertical footend of the mattress, said spring, means causes said footboard to exert aclamping force against the mattress vertical foot end and hold anybedclothes extending therebetween, said spring means being a pair 0fcoil springs secured between the outer edges of said leaf means and thecorresponding edges of said footboard a Substantial distance from saidhinge means whereby said footboard may be rotated approximatelydownwardly away from the mattress foot end.

CLAUDE LIEVSAY, JR.

References Cited in the nie of this patent UNITED sTATEs PATENTS NumberName Date 267,498 COX I; ;Y Nov. 14, 1882 420,083 McArthur 22 Jan. 28,1890 953,536 Lofland Mar. 29, 1910 1,103,494 Ewald July 14, 19141,175,526 Jones 1 Mar. 14, 1916 1,371,880 Edlund e Mar. 15, 19211,606,367 H011; Nov. 9, 1926 2,018,947 Allen e Nov. 5, 1935 2,216,076Herbeer Sept. 24, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 8-,668Netherlands Dec. 2l, 1922

